Are Sweet Potatoes Keto? How much sweet potato can I eat

According to the table above, serving size of 100 grams, a medium or a small sweet potato is okay daily on the keto diet. Remember the daily limit for net carbs is 25 grams so you should leave some room for other foods with carbohydrates you may have in your other meals.

Sweet potato noodles are basically sweet potatoes but “peel” all the way through turning them into noodles. So the same concept applies to normal sweet potatoes. Keep your serving size below a single medium sweet potato weighing around 114 grams or under to stay within your daily limit also taking into account the other carbs you eat during the day.

Sweet potatoes by themselves are low in fat with small amounts of protein.

They are a good source of Vitamin C, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6 and Vitamin A as beta-carotene. They are also a good source of potassium, copper and manganese minerals.

Sweet potatoes are high in sporamin which makes up 60% to 80% of the protein in sweet potatoes (r). This antinutrient is a trypsin inhibitor, a type of protease inhibitor which affects the digestion of proteins and may reduce the amount of protein you absorb from your meal.

This is a problem with livestock that are fed soybean feed which also contain trypsin inhibitors affecting their growth. Soybeans are usually converted into soybean meal and the heat treatment deactivates the trypsin inhibitors (r).

Make sure sweet potatoes are thoroughly cooked before eating. However, even after cooking 17% to 31% percent of the trypsin inhibitors may still be active (r).

Sweet potatoes are high in carbs and sugar, if you have excess weight to lose then choosing high protein foods may be more beneficial for your goals.

On a ketogenic diet, the focus should be on keeping insulin low and stable. Sweet potatoes will lead to a higher insulin spike and will temporarily slow down the fat burning process and switch to using carbohydrates as fuel.

However sweet potatoes are a small amount if still okay while trying to lose weight. Just remember to keep your daily intake of net carbohydrates to below 25 grams. For sweet potatoes, limit your serving to a small sweet potato. A single medium sized sweet potato will already reach your daily limit of net carbs.

Sweet potatoes are starchy and high in carbs with some sugar. This gives you extra energy for a performance boost in your workout if you are looking to get more out of your sessions. However, for people looking to efficiently build muscle, use a different source of carbs like white rice due to the antinutrients.

Avoid sweet potatoes for keto fat adaptation

On a ketogenic diet, if you are trying to get fat adapted, where your body is able to efficiently use fats for fuel throughout your body, then minimizing the carbohydrate intake will allow you to reach your goal sooner. Anecdotally, this usually takes around 6 weeks to start feeling improved energy while on a keto diet and up to 6 months to get fully adapted, where you feel the same energy levels as utilizing carbohydrates as your primary energy source.

Refill your muscle glycogen stores with sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes although not as fast absorbing as white rice or potatoes, are still a good source of carbs for filling up your muscle glycogen stores to give your workouts a bigger boost. Having your carbs 1-2 hours before your workout will be ideal to give your body time to digest and have the glucose ready in your circulation for use for your workout.

Trypsin inhibitors may affect building muscle

For people looking to maximize muscle building and lean body mass gains, then sweet potatoes may be a bad choice. The trypsin inhibitors found in sweet potatoes are heat stable and even after fully cooking, they will still be 17% to 30% active which will reduce your protein digestion and absorption leading to less amino acid available to your muscles for muscle protein synthesis. A better choice would be white rice, which would have far fewer antinutrients.

Sweet potatoes may help improve sleep and help you cope with stress. Eating high glycemic index carbs will help your muscles absorb amino acids competing with tryptophan to get into the brain. This in turn allows more tryptophan to cross the blood brain barrier allowing your brain to have more building blocks for making serotonin and melatonin which regulate mood and sleep (r, r, r).

Sweet potatoes are good for different situations depending on your goal.

For weight loss, minimize on sweet potatoes and keep to a smaller serving size taking into account of other carbohydrates you eat during the day.

They are good for providing workout energy and a good time to have them are 1-2 hours before your session.

Avoid sweet potatoes if you are looking to build muscle, choose carbohydrates that have less anti-nutrients like white rice or dehulled quinoa.

If you are having trouble with stress and sleep, try having some sweet potatoes alongside a high protein meal.